To You I Bestow
by narrativegoldfish
Summary: We all know that Astoria and Draco end up together in the end. We never get to know when they began having feelings for each other or what sparked them, even? She seems to be a spare until the epilogue and we know what happens to spares... well, what generally happens to them.
1. Chapter 1

I wrote this at 5 in the morning so forgive any spelling and grammar errors. Also, I may have called her Daphne once or twice. Those are to be ignored. I will get around to fixing them. Enjoy. Let me know if I should turn this in to an actual story, too. I'm actually not a big Draco fan but I do think that he's a very interesting and misunderstood character and I would like to see a softer (yet believable) side of him. Hopefully, I captured it. -NGF

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><p>"Astoria. I wasn't expecting to see you here," Draco stated upon entering the common room.<p>

The blonde haired girl only smiled politely, "Oh? Me? In the common rooms? Why, I suppose that isn't common at all."

Draco smirked although his tongue was pressed to his cheek in an annoyed fashion. One of the many subtle quirks that Astoria had observed about Draco over the many years of being in the same house with him. It always seemed much more endearing when it was directed towards her.

"Don't be cute, Greengrass. Will you be here very long? I have something important that I need to discuss with Crabbe and Goyle."

"Crabbe and Goyle don't appear to be here, Malfoy," she stated saying his last name with the same air of arrogance that he had used when saying hers, "sooo, I think I'll stay. At least until they arrive. I assume that they're lost or eating... or both," she added boredly with a slight giggle as she turned the page of her With Weekly magazine.

"Ugh, why do you read that rubbish?" Draco asked snarling at the magazine, "It's all a bunch of bullocks about clothing and make up and how to make boys that clearly aren't interested magicly interested in you."

Astoria raised her eyebrow slyly, "So you're a subscriber, then?"

"No. It's just typical."

Astoria put the magazine down, "There was an article about The Weird Sisters that I was interested in. Do you like them?"

"They're alright. I don't listen to music, much."

"No? What do you like, then?" She asked.

Draco was caught off guard by the question. No one had ever really asked it except for Pansy. However when Pansy asked about him, it felt more like research... like she was studying him in order to be a better girlfriend or something. When Astoria asked, it was on a whim, curious, genuine. Draco didn't exactly know what sort of answer she expected of him but he didn't want to disappoint her for some reason.

"Well, I like quidditch."

"That's boring and obvious. What else do you like? Or more importantly, **why** do you like quidditch?"

Draco opened his mouth in surprise to retaliate but failed to find the words. He had to think for a moment.

"I like to read. And I like to study different spells and enchantments and ancient magical artifacts and..." He stopped because he noticed that she was smiling at him approvingly now. It made him nervous.

"Don't stop. We're finally getting somewhere. Now, we're talking. Pun intended."

Draco managed a weak half-smile before continuing, "Have you ever heard of a vanishing cabinet?"

She thought for a moment, "I think so. Oh! That cabinet that Fred and George pushed Montague in. The one that he almost died in? I've heard that witches and wizards loyal to Dumbledore used them as a means of escape from death-eaters during the first war and vice versa. Why? Have you acquired one, recently?" She asked leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees curiously.

Draco shook his head, "No. Well, I've found that one here at Hogwarts. I'm only curious about them. I think it may be broken, though," He stated flatly.

Astoria titled her head and looked at him probingly, "Whatever you're planning, it's dangerous. Be careful?"

Draco stared at her momentarily, "I will."

He looked around. The fire in the fireplace was dwindling down and she did look a little cold. He got up to readjust the flames with another piece of wood and a few pokes to let some oxygen get to the embers that were smoldering under a coat of ash. As he went back to where they had been sitting, he contemplated sitting next to her but decided against it thinking that she would definitely notice and let it go to her head. She was that sort of girl, he thought. Maybe it was the fear that she'd see right through the gesture and laugh at him that scared him, though. She also seemed to be that sort of girl as well as the sort of girl that wouldn't think anything of it and accept him sitting next to her after all. He was started to over think about her making him realize he didn't really know her very well at all. She was unpredictable and he was playing it safe.

He began to wonder where Grabbe and Goyle actually were when she spoke up again, "Did they forget, perhaps?"

"They might have. They're idiots."

She smirked then stated dryly, "They stood you up. This is just... unacceptable."

"I did get to speak about my important matter with someone, though. It hasn't been a complete waste of my time."

"You were going to ask Crabbe and Goyle advice on the furniture that almost killed one of our classmates?" She asked with a skeptical grin.

"Not exactly, I was going to tell them about it, though. I asked for your advice merely because you're far more intellectual than they are."

She smiled, "I suppose you're right."

"So, what do you like, then? I've answered you."

She thought for a moment, "I like... to ... create things." She stated as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt and smiled softly down at her lap. It was adorable, in a way. She sort of reminded him of a shy child. He was about to ask her to elaborate when she began talking again, "Like painting, and sculpting, and music, and tapestries... although, I could never make a tapestry as remarkable as the ones here in the castle... they're gorgeous and complicated and..."

"I think I understand."

"I particularly like to charm objects or brew potions. I really admire how hands on it is and how accomplished I feel after perfecting a certain charm or potion. I imagine that it's not much different than catching the snitch for you... or figuring out how an artifact works."

Draco nodded, "It sounds nice. I had no idea."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Draco," she replied with a smile.

"Like what?"

"Like, I hate ancient runes until the very moment I decipher them and Divination comes pretty naturally to me. How about you?"

"I'm awful at Divination and Ancient Runes bore me to tears."

"What about History of Magic?"

"You said 'nap time' all wrong."

Astoria giggled, "Was that a joke? I had no idea you were capable of being funny."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Astoria."

Draco flashed her a smile. A very rare sight indeed. She had seen him smile before when he was teasing Harry Potter but that was a cocky and arrogant smile to show off for his lackies. This smile was a real one. A happy one and he was quite handsome when he smiled like that. She hoped that she'd get the chance to make him smile like that again someday. And then again after that, too.

"I should probably go to bed now. It was nice to talk to you, Draco. Maybe we can talk again?"

Draco nodded, "Yeah. Maybe."

As he watched her stand up to stretch out her arms and yawn sleepily, he realized that this was the first time that he had felt at ease since he had been given his **task**. It was the first time he had felt sort of happy, too.

She leaned down to give him a quick and gentle kiss on the cheek leaving her perfume lingering in the air before telling him good night.

For the first time that night, Draco did not dream of broken pidgeons in vanishing cabinets. He did not dream of Montague struggling for his life. He did not dream of Dumbledore and he did not dream of Voldermort, himself. It was the first peaceful dreamless sleep he had had in a long time and he was immensely grateful.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two! Woo! I had three review that seemed to like it so here's more. (Yes. Three reviews is all it takes to make me feel flattered and loved and wanted. I'm pathetic.) EDIT: I noticed that I had gotten Astoria's year wrong (probably from writing thefirst chapter of my Fred Weasley story right before writing this chapter of Dreamless. I have fixed the mistake, though! Yay!)**

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><p>A week had passed since their late night chat in the common room. The only chances they had to speak to one another were during class changes and random run ins in the common room with other students around. The change in Draco and Astoria's relationship was so subtle, that none of their friends had even noticed it. They did, though. That was all that mattered.<p>

Astoria stood in the girls' lavatory with her older sister and Pansy. She watched them apply their make-up and then checked her hair which had been braided loosely to the side. She then caught Pansy staring at her with an unreadable yet cold expression.

"Some of the boys in Slytherin have been noticing how well you've been '_filling out' _recently," she scoffed, "You're like, what? A B cup?"

Astoria smiled at Pansy kindly, "A, actually. I'm a bit embarrassed, actually. All of the other third years are B or bigger. However, I think my figure just makes them look more full," Astoria answered as she ran her hands down her waist and smiled at herself in the mirror.

Pansy tutted a bit arrogantly, "Of course they do if someone's as skinny as you are."

"I'm a healthy weight for my age, Pansy."

Pansy sighed in boredom before applying a rose colored lip gloss to her lips.

"Draco doesn't like it when you wear that stuff," Astoria had let it slip, "He said it makes your lips really slimy when the two of you snog."

Astoria giggled lightly to herself remembering the disgusted face that Draco had made when Astoria had applied chap stick to her lips at Lunch one day after Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle had left. She was the only one that found it amusing, though. Pansy looked outraged as she grabbed a paper towel to wipe her mouth off, "How would you know what Draco does and doesn't like?" she asked defensively.

"It was mentioned in conversation?" Astoria suggested obviously.

"Yes, well... why would you be talking to Draco and especially concerning the two of us?"

"Because we're friends kind of and you're his girlfriend?"

"Well, stop talking to him when I'm not around."

"Why?"

"Because. Like you said, **I'm** his **girlfriend** and I said so."

Astoria didn't say another word. She was too annoyed with Pansy's stupidity to argue with her. Daphne shot her younger sister a warning look and Astoria just rolled her eyes lightly and went back to checking herself out in the mirror for lack of anything better to do.

"To make it up to me, I think you should let me have those ear rings of yours. I like them and you offended me so you owe me. That's what friends do."

Astoria wanted very desperately to set Pansy straight by telling her that they were not friends and that friends don't blackmail eachother into giving away important heirlooms. The ear rings that Astoria were wearing were custom made and one of a kind. They were small golden snakes wrapped around a tiny ruby that was supposed to represent an apple much like the one from the Adam and Eve biblical story. They had been given to her grandmother a very long time ago by a boy that she loved very much when she had attended Hogwarts. Astoria did not want to give them to Pansy so that they could enhance her dull pig-nosed face.

She also knew that Pansy could make every female Slytherin hate her in a matter of seconds so she reluctantly took the ear rings out of her ears and handed them over.

"They were my grandmother's. I'd really appreciate if you could be so kind as to return them when you're finished with them."

"Sure. Whatever." She put them on and looked at herself in the mirror quite pleased, "How do they look? They're much prettier on me, right?"

Astoria bit her bottom lip in disgust. She was too infuriated with Pansy to want to cry.

"Yes, Pansy. They look far more lovely on you. I hope that you enjoy them."

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><p>Draco stared at the golden haired fourteen year old that sat a long way down the table from him conversing with other Slytherins in her year. She seemed conflicted. Her mouth seemed happy as she giggled and had a great time at dinner with her peers, though her eyes looked distraught as they darted towards his end of the table every once in a while.<p>

Draco smelled Pansy's domineering floral perfume before she had even sat next to him. It actually would have smelled wonderful if she didn't wear so much of it. It had the potential to be refreshing.

"Hello, love," he greeted her kindly as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I missed you."

"But we just had class together," Draco countered with a small but still flattered smile. Crabbe and Goyle grinned over at him and Draco arched his eyebrow with a rather un-amused expression.

"I know, but still," she pressed.

After a moment or two of awkward silence, Pansy perked up, "Draco! We should have tea in Hogsmeade this weekend."

"Tea?" Draco asked, "But that's so common. Besides, I have something important that I need to do while we're there. Perhaps I can meet you for dinner?"

Pansy pouted sadly and looked down at her plate. As annoying as Pansy was most of the time, Draco really did hate to let her down or hurt her feelings. It completely stunk that she managed to look so pretty and helpless when she was sad, too. He wasn't about to let her or anyone else at the table know it, though. They'd think he had turned in to some sort of soft-ass all of a sudden.

"Pansy, stop doing that. You're being childish," he told her indifferently as he handed her her napkin.

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><p>Later that night, when he and Pansy had snuck off to a secluded hallway past the dungeons to have a private session of showing their affection for one another, as Draco pulled away from Pansy just to simply look at her (because truth be told, he really was attracted to her in every way despite some of her flaws) and catch his breath, he noticed a familiar little gold glimmer in the area where her left ear was.<p>

"Those are very nice ear rings, Pansy."

"Oh? Thank you-"

Draco then cut her off with a light hearted smile, "It must have been really nice of Astoria to loan them to you. I just hope they don't turn your ears that nasty green color that they turn hers."

Pansy was at a loss for words as Draco chuckled lightly to himself before planting little kisses on her neck.

"What do you mean?"

Draco groaned in annoyance and rolled his head to the side so that it was resting on her shoulder and he could look up at her... rather adorably in her opinion.

"Well, it's just that I heard her complaining to Millicent Bulstrode the other evening about how they were cheap bits of rubbish that turned her ears green all of the time."

"But she told me they were her grandmother's and that she wanted me to return them as soon as possible."

"What?" Draco acted like he was truly baffled as he stood up straight and laughed even more, "Knowing you and your despicable record of stealing, she probably thought you'd keep them from her out of spite if she fabricated some pathetic sob story like that."

Pansy blushed a little not feeling very proud of herself for being spiteful no matter how much Draco said he admired it.

"I have to return them, now. I can't believe that cheeky little girl would try to fool me like that. I can't wear anything that isn't pure gold or silver. She knows that."

Pansy quickly removed the ear rings and asked Draco how her ears looked. He shook his head as if to indicate that they were fine. He then took the ear rings from her with a frown.

"I'll sort it out with her tomorrow. I'll return them to her and let her know that you don't deserve friends that are going to dump their cheap hand-me-downs on you."

Pansy looked up at Draco gratefully, "You don't have to be mean to her or anything. I mean, she's only a fourth year after all."

"You're too kind, Pansy," and with that, Draco leaned in for their last kiss(or so he thought) before telling her goodnight and walking her back to the common rooms where he stole one more kiss from her before going to his own dorm for the night feeling quite proud of himself and his acting skills as he looked down at the precious ear rings in his hand.

He would have recognized those ear rings anywhere. Astoria never wore any other pair.


	3. Chapter 3

The following day, Draco managed to find Astoria studying in the library during some of his free time between classes. He grabbed a book from the shelf and took a seat across from her.

"What's the occasion?" She asked with an amused tone, still engulfed in her book while she furiously jotted down notes with the quill in her right hand.

"Just fancied a bit of light reading," he lied.

Astoria lifted a brow curiously and looked at the book that he had chosen, "Tales of Beedle & the Bard? Feeling nostalgic?"

"I am, actually," Draco stated feigning insult as he flipped through a few of the pages and turned away from her.

Astoria smiled and sighed before closing her book, "I'm sorry. I envy you. I'd love to be doing recreational reading right now instead of… this" she waved her hand over the mess of parchment and books before her.

"Well, fourth year is rather tough grade-wise. Of course, you don't have a tri-wizard tournament going on to distract yourself and your professors. Anyways, I didn't really come here to read Beedle and the Bard. I was actually looking for you."

"Why?"

"To return these," he answered. He then pulled the ear rings out of his pocket and sat them down on the table in front of her.

"Merlin!" she whispered. She looked up at him with a look of pure gratitude. Of course he didn't know how much they meant to her but she was so happy to see them. She was not expecting to ever get them back from Pansy in all honesty. "Thank you!"

"In all fairness, I told a bit of a lie to get them. I assumed they were just your favorite pair because you wear them a lot but if you could just pretend not to be so fond of them when Pansy is around, that would be brilliant. Understand?"

Astoria nodded, "I should have just told her that they were rubbish when she asked for them. Then she might not have wanted them. They belonged to my grandmother and they were a gift to her from someone dear to her. They're the only item that she physically gave to me before she died so they're precious to me."

Draco frowned and ran a hand through his hair, "I know she's my girlfriend but honestly, if you're this moved by my returning them, why didn't you just… deck her?"

"Because, Draco. A lady does not simply **deck** her friend. I wouldn't expect you to understand but warfare is much different for women."

He scoffed and nodded his head as if it were obvious and he suddenly understood, "Riight. So you were just going to let her walk all over you?"

"Girls can be vicious, Draco."

"I highly doubt it."

"It's true."

It was true. He knew that it was and he knew that Pansy really would have tried her best to make Astoria miserable if she felt that Astoria had crossed her. It didn't change the fact that he was truly annoyed by Astoria's lack to defend something that was important to her as if she had no pride. It wasn't like she was completely defenseless plus he couldn't just 'fight her battles' for her if he was dating the person picking the battles. It was annoying him that it could even potentially be a problem the more that he thought about it and he had other matters to be concerned with. Matters that could be life or death to him. The fact that some trivial drama between female friends of his could concern him with everything **else** going on in his life actually amused him. Merlin! "I must be going mad!" he thought to himself before laughing at himself pressing his tongue to his cheek incredulously.

Astoria, as well, could feel herself becoming irritated in Draco's presence. He just sat there casting his judgment on her like the situation could have been so easily solved if it had been him. Of course it would have. He's HIM and she was not. She was constantly balancing on the line of trying hard enough without trying too hard. If she didn't try enough, Pansy had something to say about it and if she tried too much, Pansy had to bring her back down to make herself look or feel better! Being friends with Pansy was suffering and **he** was **dating** her for Merlin's sake! Snogging Pansy and doting on Pansy yet here he came, just waltzing in like some hero returning the item she was too cowardly to fight for herself… and she had swooned just a bit and now, she was hating herself for it. What if Pansy picked on her again? Was he going to take pity on her each time? Pathetic. It was all so stupid.

She touched her cheek and felt that it was warm, "I think I've studied enough for the day. Thank you, again… for returning my ear rings."

"You're welcome. I should probably head to class as well. I'll leave first. See you around, Greengrass."

She nodded and waited for him to go before packing her items away and leaving to go to her next class.

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><p>Astoria did not see very much of Draco for the rest of the week not that she was going out of her way to or thought anything of it… except that it made her uneasy more than anything. Despite Draco's cold demeanor and rude behavior, he was popular among his peers and normally extremely sociable like many other wizards of status in their house… so when Draco stopped generally being around, it felt off-putting to say the least.<p>

"Astoria?" someone spoke to her breaking her from her concentration on Crabbe & Goyle playing Wizard Chess in the corner of the common room without Draco.

Blaise Zabini, who had agreed to tutoring her with Ancient Runes, waved his hand in front of her face, "Staring pretty intently. I'd think you fancied one of the brutes," he teased.

"Shut up, Blaise. I just thought it was strange that their benevolent leader is nowhere to be found."

"Benevolent? Do I detect sarcasm?"

"You do."

Blaise grinned and shrugged nonchalantly, "Beats me. He's been acting weird lately anyhow. Late to quidditch practice and not because he intended to be… he also seems a bit, I don't know, paranoid at times. I can never tell with Malfoy. He has the emotional range of a quidditch field and easily could use the entire range on one emotion alone, you know?"

Astoria smiled, "You're right. It's probably nothing and definitely not anything that I should be concerned with."

Blaise tapped on her book, "exactly. Now, decipher that fella there."

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><p>"I can't believe that he's not even coming this weekend," Pansy whined as she walked along the main street of Hogsmeade with Daphne, Tracy Davis, Millicent Bulstrode, and Astoria.<p>

"He **did** say that he wasn't feeling very well, Pansy," Millicent noted with the slightest tone of annoyance in her voice. Astoria enjoyed Millicent the most out of all of her older sister's mates. Millicent seemed to be the most mature of the group and the boldest. If one of the girls was acting childish or unacceptably, Milli wasn't afraid to let them know or hurt their feelings in the process. Millicent was the girl that Astoria looked up to the most and wanted to be like.

Astoria caught a glimpse of Adrian Pucey's little sister, Charlotte, and left the group to join up with her peer.

The girls went in to The Three Broomsticks and talked freely about boys, classes, music, and loose ends over lunch. It was then off to Gladrags.

Astoria had tried on a form fitting, off the shoulder dress that was a lovely sapphire blue color.

"Where are you intending to wear that?" Charlotte asked with her arms folded.

"Slughorn's Christmas party, maybe."

"Are you intending to crash?"

Astoria shook her head, "No. Blaise will ask me."

"What makes you so sure of that? I thought he was just tutoring you."

"For now," Astoria answered simply.

Charlotte shook her head with a smile, "Good luck."

They paid for their items (including the dress that Astoria fully intended to wear to the Christmas party) and left the store. They met with Pansy and her group for a final stop at Honeyduke's for chocolates.

After listening to Pansy complain about Draco's absence over and over, Astoria had had enough. She grabbed a box of random sweets and a sentiment card then shoved them at Pansy.

"Millicent said that he said he wasn't feeling well. Maybe this and a box of tea from Puddifoot's will show him how much he was missed today since **we** **already** know."

Pansy blinked in surprise then clicked her tongue at Astoria with a sour expression, "jealous?"

"Of what?"

"Of me being in a perfect relationship?"

Astoria scoffed and shook her head and then Pansy leaned in real close with a snide grin, "Or jealous of the fact that he's not dating you?"

"That's absurd, Pansy. How long have I known you and Draco to be dating?" Astoria asked nonchalantly, "Not everyone is jealous of your boyfriend or your **perfect** relationship. There are plenty of other attractive males at our school and I'm sure that I could find my own without any problems and have just as good of a relationship with them."

"Is that so?" Pansy asked defensively.

Astoria shrugged, "I guess. I mean, how hard can it be?"

Pansy smiled, "Alright, Greengrass. You're on. If it's so easy, let's come up with a challenge."

Pansy turned to Millicent and Tracy while Daphne shook her head at Astoria.

Pansy turned around and folded her arms, "Zabini. Millicent tells me that he's tutoring you which immediately wipes you off of his radar since schoolwork is the least romantic thing that I can think of doing with anyone. Not that Zabini's much in to romance, though. Speaking of that, he's two years older than you and I've heard that he's not a virgin which will make making yourself appealing to him even more of a challenge," she laughed and placed her hand on her forehead in embarrassment before looking up at Astoria again with a pleased smile, "But I'm curious to see how far you'll go and plan to be thoroughly entertained if you choose to accept."

Astoria nodded, "Yeah. I do accept, actually."

"Good. You'll have until the end of Christmas break to make it happen… and I mean all of it, Greengrass."

"Not a problem," Astoria agreed coldly just to get under Pansy's skin.

"So what shall we wager?"

Astoria shrugged, "What are you interested in?"

"I think a simple monetary wager will be fine. 20 Galleons?"

"20 Galleons it is, Pansy."

"I might think that you're a little shit half the time, Astoria… but I'll confess that I like your conviction."

"Right."

Charlotte then chimed in, "Pansy, just to clarify… what exactly did you mean by 'all of it' earlier?"

Pansy grinned, "sex, of course. In addition to officially becoming his girlfriend and going on at least one 'date' like the Christmas party, perhaps."

"Oh, right. Just wanted to be sure."

As they were leaving the shop, Charlotte pulled Astoria to the side and asked her if she was crazy.

"A. It's just sex. B. It's just 20 galleons. C. I just wanted to entertain Pansy. I already intended to convince Blaise in to taking me to the Christmas party. If I win 20 galleons, too, it's a perk."

"So you'd actually sleep with him?"

Astoria shrugged, "I just don't see the big deal."

"I know you're just being stubborn because of Pansy. You don't fully intend to have sex with your Ancient Runes tutor. Don't you want your first time to be something special? Something memorable? Something worth more than 20 galleons?"

"Who says it can't be?" Astoria asked as if she didn't have a care in the world.

Charlotte was right, though. Astoria wasn't expecting Pansy to be so tasteless as to add sex to the challenge. Was she implying that sex was part of her 'perfect' relationship with Draco and in stating so, she had to have sex with Blaise to be on par with her?

Astoria shook her head and simply accepted the fact that she would probably be paying Pansy 20 galleons upon returning to the castle from Christmas Break.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello readers! I'm back. I don't know for how long. Let's just put it that way. I will have you know that I've changed my priorities to this story, though. Yayy. With that being said, I hope that you enjoy this next installment. (While you do that, I'll begin typing up chapter 5, kay?)**

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><p>On the way back home, between Millicent warmheartedly teasing Pansy about something that she had done in their second year at Hogwarts giving the other girls (and Pansy, surprisingly) a laugh, Katie Bell let out a blood curdling scream a few groups of students in front of them causing everyone to stop in their tracks.<p>

"What happened to her?" Astoria asked quickly clinging to Daphne. Instinctively, Daphne held her arm in front of Astoria as a shield and shook her head, "I don't know… "

Within seconds, Katie's limp body was levitating above them. It was eerily serene and Astoria could feel an uncomfortable chill spread throughout her body fearing what could happen to the Gryffindor chaser, next. And what happened next was dreadful to witness. Katie began thrashing and screeching in pain, contorting into unnatural positions before she abruptly fell back to the ground, motionless and silent.

Teachers gathered around her and rushed her to care immediately. Relief that Katie was still alive did not come so easily to Astoria and the other students, though. She knew the questions on everyone's mind must have been who and why would anyone commit such a heinous act of dark magic against Katie Bell?

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><p>Back at the castle, Blaise found her and the others almost immediately upon returning to the castle.<p>

"Are you alright?" he asked. Even Crabbe and Goyle who were standing with him looked uncharacteristically fearful.

Astoria and the others nodded and Blaise turned to Pansy, "Has anyone been saying anything? Suspicions of who did it and why?"

Pansy shook her head sternly, "No. Not yet. I'm sure it will all come in due time. I just don't understand why a student… and a student who has nothing to do with the situation at that would be attacked in such a manner."

"The situation?" Astoria asked staring at Pansy incredulously, "What are you saying, Pansy?"

Daphne stepped in front of Astoria and placed her hands on her shoulders, "It isn't what you think, Astoria. This wasn't a Death Eater attack. We know that that's where fingers will be pointed come tomorrow, though. A lot of us have our family names to uphold, including you and I. So try your best to calm down, understand?"

Pansy turned to look over Daphne's shoulder at Astoria, "She's right. A lot of us aren't going to be very popular at dinner in the Great Hall, tonight to say the very least. Suspicion will do that to a large mass of people so don't do or say anything stupid, Astoria."

Astoria nodded and bit her lip. She knew the 'neither confirm nor deny' drill all too well from her family but she was surprised that Pansy, Daphne, and Blaise impulsively retracted to it. It was a whole new side to the three of them and Astoria couldn't tell if she was fearful or admirable of it.

"We're still on for tonight, yeah?" Blaise asked flashing her a warm smile to calm her down, "Might do some good to study, tonight what with your mind being as alert as it is right now. I know it's awful… but it's true."

Astoria smiled up at him, "I get what you're trying to say and I appreciate it. I'll see you in our usual spot after dinner. Right now, I just want to clean up and think everything over."

"Understandable. Oh, and Astoria… we're all just as confused right now, some of us just pretend to have it all together better than others."

Astoria nodded and then looked over at her sister again. Daphne smiled at her as if to say, "Everything is going to be okay."

* * *

><p>As the week passed, Astoria noticed more hushed voices in the hallways but did her best to ignore them.<p>

She caught a glimpse of Blaise a few meters away down the hall and decided that she would try to use him as a distraction from the doom and gloom in the air.

She quickly caught up with him and linked her arm with his, "walk me to class?"

He looked a bit startled at first but smiled down at her, "It would be an honor. Which way, miss?"

"Ohhh, you know this way, that way," she teased giving him a quick push and a pull as she spoke, "let's just wing it and see where we end up!"

"Ahh. So when you asked me to walk you to class, you really just wanted a wingman for **skipping** class?" he asked.

"I mean, it sounds way less adventurous when you say it like that. I never said that I want to skip, you implied it," she smiled smugly and batted her lashes at him causing him the laugh and shake his head.

"You're a mess, a dreadfully charming one, though. Ah, what to do? The noble choice of taking you to class like any respectable young gentleman orrrr—wait a minute! Are you skipping Ancient Runes, young lady?!"

Astoria laughed loudly at the accusation, "absolutely not! After all of your hard work and dedication, you think I'd just throw it all away?" she asked clasping his hand dramatically and holding it to her chest.

Blaise smiled at her and a feeling that she had not been expecting arose in her. Astoria suddenly felt light headed and nervous and the inside of her stomach tickled in a way that made her just want to… melt… right there into a puddle of 14 year old witch right in the hallway in front of everyone. Her grip on his hand loosened and he placed his arm around her shoulder, "well, I can't very well take you to class if I don't know which class I'm walking you to, can I?" he asked.

Ooooh, he was a smooth one, she thought. But he was so good-looking and making her feel so odd that she was just happy that her plan had worked.

All she could think was, "Take that, Pansy Parkinson." But then that got her thinking of Pansy and Draco and she just couldn't imagine Draco making Pansy's stomach do flips the way that hers had when Blaise just smiled at her. What did she really even like about him? And vice versa. Did Pansy ever make Draco smile like he had that night in the common room?

Another flip shortly followed by a slight chest pain at the thought of it. The thought of Pansy feeling like Astoria did wasn't something that she wanted to think about… and the most baffling part was why Astoria didn't want Draco to be the person making Pansy feel that way all of a sudden.

And she definitely didn't want Pansy to make Draco smile like that again… ever.

Wasn't she just swooning over Blaise five seconds ago?

She had to get a grip and soon.

"So where to?" Astoria asked.

"I don't know. Typically, when I skip, the pitch is my go-to but it's getting colder. The common room is always an option. Then again, we are in a huge castle."

"I like where you're going, I think. To the staircases?"

"To the staircases, where our delinquent fate lies," he answered with a grin.

As they were headed towards the staircases, Astoria caught a glimpse of Draco and Pansy coming down the stairs. He was laughing but it didn't stir any sort of emotion. It was when he roughed up her hair a bit and then kissed her forehead after she pouted about it that made her uncomfortable, "On second thought, for the past four years, I've never once explored the dungeons."

"Well, I mean, they can kill you so it's understandable."

She smiled and yanked his sleeve to lead him in the direction of the dungeon stair case, instead.

"Oh. You were actually serious," Blaise stated following suit.

* * *

><p>As they walked along the tunnelshallways of the dungeons, Astoria spoke up after some time of silence.

"So, what's new?"

Blaise smiled and looked down, "Let's just cut to the chase Astoria. You didn't bring me down here to make small talk."

Well, he was awfully forward all of a sudden, she thought to herself.

"You're right," she admitted with a sigh.

"So what's the reason?"

Astoria thought of making up a clever lie but it was already approaching the end of October and she only had 2 months to spare. She wasn't as naive as Pansy implied. She knew very well that Blaise was a bit of a womanizer (a charming and considerate one none the less) and didn't stay in a relationship much longer than a month or so… if they even got past the point of being a casual hookup.

So she decided to be honest.

She pulled him to her lightly by the collar of his shirt and kissed him with very little hesitation.

He had been shocked at first but he admired her boldness and placed his hand around her waist as he kissed her back.

Their kissing didn't take much time to grow deeper and pick up a steady rhythm. After a while, she felt him untucking her blouse and shortly after running his hands along the bare skin of her waist. She waited before mimicking the gesture. He soon began to lightly kiss her neck sending a sensation through her body that made her fingers curl and scratch at his waist. She took mental note (for future reference) that it had caused him to smile against her neck briefly before unbuttoning the first few buttons of her blouse so that he could plant a series of kisses along her collar bone.

The kissing went back and forth for the remainder. He'd return to her lips for a short period letting his hands massage her waist, the small of her back, never going farther that her rib cage.

Then, he would return to her neck and collarbone and run his hand along her thigh.

And then it all suddenly stopped. He kissed her on the cheek, tucked his shirt back in, readjusted his tie, and checked his watch.

"We should probably head to the great hall for dinner."

She found it hard to believe that had just been snogging in a hallway for an hour.

* * *

><p>At dinner, all seemed well. Astoria was in high spirits from previous activities and kept catching Blaise casually glancing down to her end of the table. They'd exchange a grin before going back to their meal or conversation with a classmate then something that Draco was doing caught her attention.<p>

He was looking at her and sort of scratching/rubbing at the collar of his shirt more towards the front.

Astoria arched an eyebrow at him and mouthed, "what?"

He rolled his eyes and unbuttoned the top button of his collar, loosened his tie, and abruptly pointed at the lower part of his neck then pointed back at Astoria.

Her eyes went wide when she realized what he meant all of a sudden she grabbed a spoon to examine what she already feared was there. Despite her initial embarrassment, she was kind of proud of it, actually. She looked back up at Draco, flashed him a smile and shot him a thumbs up with a questioning nod as if the ask, "Not bad, right?"

He laughed and nodded his head jokingly. She then buttoned up her blouse, gave her tie a quick pat-down, then waved her hand at him to do the same, blinking her eyes at him expectantly.

And there it was… that same smile as he looked down to button his shirt and readjust his tie.

She returned her attention back to the food on her plate sighed. How awful that Draco Malfoy had to be the person to notice her first hickey.

She felt like a total slag.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: In this installment, you get A LOT of background information on Astoria and Daphne's parents. Oh, I did do my best to make them extremely interesting… yet believable in the sense that not all Slytherin alumni/pureblood wizards are all "grrrr. kill the muggles!" but they aren't all sweet like the Weasleys. I hope you approve. I've never done so much with a minor character before! Anyways, enjoy.**

A month had passed and Astoria was still technically boyfriendless even though the majority of their housemates and even a handful of students from other houses often mistook them for a couple. He just hadn't officially asked her out. Daphne reassured her that he was merely testing her and it was typical behavior from him.

"You don't have to go through with it," Daphne told her as she brushed through Astoria's hair in the common room before dinner, "Pansy was only trying to piss you off."

"But I do actually like him."

"I **know**. I'm only trying to tell you what I think is best. It's not like Blaise is a sleezy guy or anything. I just think you're a bit young to be taking on Pansy's challenge… and all over a bet is no reason to just go and give yourself up plus it's weird. Blaise is practically like a brother and you're my baby sister and I can't even stomach the two of you snogging, let alone doing **that**," Daphne stuck her tongue out and shook her head she sighed. She hugged Astoria from the back and whined playfully, "please, don't do it. For me, your big sister. What am I going to do if he deflowers you then breaks your fragile little heart? I'll kill him! I'll absolutely kill him!"

"Shut up!" Astoria exclaimed shoving Daphne away.

"I'm serious. I'm only concerned about you. You know that."

Astoria nodded, "well, he has to ask me out first. Bet or no bet."

"He'd be stupid not to. Oh! I checked the owlery today. We received letters."

She pulled an envelope with Astoria's name and their family seal on it from her bag then handed it over to her.

"I'll warn you, it isn't exactly sentimental. Father has been recruited, again," Daphne explained quietly.

"But I thought he wanted nothing to—"

"Shhh!" Daphne covered Astoria's mouth with her hand, "someone may hear you."

It was no secret that their father was an EX highly-ranked hit-wizard for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He had failed at his mission in the first attempt to capture Sirius Black. The Wizengamot had mixed suspicions that he purposefully let Black escape. Without evidence, he was forced to resign due to a possible conflict of interest. He had enough currency saved up from the job in addition to inheritances, and with their mother being the successful robe designer that she was, he had been comfortable enough to retire… so that was what he did. It was a pretty boring life, going from a high-crime fighting occupation to being your wife's fashion secretary but he never complained once about it. So it came as a significant surprise why Voldermort would have taken interest in an alliance with him. It wasn't like he had access to criminal profiles or worked in close proximity to any of the aurors that the Death Eaters intended to do away with any more.

Now, she worried about why they persisted and what her father was going to do.

He had often reassured the girls that his sole reason for denying the Death Eaters had been their margin for potential failure. Joining the Death Eaters to possibly lose the war were not odds that he was willing to gamble considering they would all more than likely be captured by aurors and sent to Azkaban. On the contrary, he also had no interest in following Dumbledore due to a similar outcome of being tortured to death by Death Eaters out of spite.

Something didn't sit right with her, though. Was her father really as neutral as he claimed to be… or **did** he take the rules of the law in to his own hand? Something had to have tipped Voldermort off and put her father in his sites.

Daphne pinched her in the arm violently breaking her deep concentration on the matter.

"Maybe it's mum they're truly after," she joked, "need to liven up the wardrobe."

Astoria laughed despite how anxious she had just felt previously… and still felt. She knew Daphne was just trying to get her mind off of it. She was sure that all of the same thoughts had previously gone through her sister's head upon reading her letter.

"Just read the letter, okay?" Daphne asked, "but do it in privacy."

There was sadness in her sister's tone and it made Astoria's anxiety grow even more.

* * *

><p>Later that night after dinner when all the girls had fallen asleep in the dorm, Astoria snuck out of the room and went down to the common room and flicked a lamp on to see. She carefully opened the letter and began to read its contents.<p>

It was not her mother's airy script but her father's messy rushed handwriting instead. Although a bit confused, she continued to read it:

_Tori, darling!_

_Brilliant! I assume that it's you reading this. I've charmed the parchment to react only to your touch so assuming you're alive and well, then yes, you would be the one reading it which means Daphne did as she was told by not expressing the contents. I wanted very much for you to read it for yourself._

_Speaking of lying, there's something I have to tell you. You see, your mother would have sent this but she's been an emotional wreck all summer what with our little visits and sending the two of you off without any explanations._

_The thing is, I'm not exactly who I claim to be._

_Sirius Black was an unfortunate accident, I had actually had two targets that night and I needed Sirius alive to well, kill the other one. But the chap out smarted me and I had to improvise._

_Anyhow, there comes a time in every young wizard's life where he does something exponentially… stupid. And I did a lot of them is what I'm getting at._

_With that being said, there's no easy way to say what I need to say next so I'll just say it bluntly._

_I'm an assassin, Tori._

_Always have been. It's particularly why the Wizengamot deemed it fit for me to resign. Things were getting… messy to say the least. Law enforcement intell. was beginning to catch on to certain things and the person(s) ultimately behind my true assignments couldn't afford to have it aired publicly if it were found out._

_In all honesty, the Ministry of Magic isn't entirely made up of idiots. They're just as aware of how dangerous muggles can be as the Death Eaters are._

_Which is where my division comes in to play, wizards that have been specially trained in both magical defenses and completely trained in muggle weapon mastery… completely._

_You don't hear of muggles murdering wizards very often… but when you do, it's more than likely __**us**__. Oh but we're not strictly reserved to just the assassination of wizards and witches. You see, muggles will believe anything if they're told it's true enough times. J.F.K.? I'm sure your muggle studies professor reviewed it. Anyways, it's one of the larges ongoing conspiracy theories that muggles have tried to figure out to this day. Their government had a **little** to do with it but the black and white truth was that the Ministry had even **more** to do with it."_

Daphne could not believe what she was reading. Her palms were sweating and her breathing had turned shallow. She now remembered hearing what had happened to one of the main hit-wizards assigned that night. About a week later, he was killed when he was 'accidentally' pushed in front of a train while visiting France.

"_I'm sorry, darling. I know that none of this is making any sense to you or maybe it is. You are exceptionally bright, you know?_

_To be very direct, I never stopped being an assassin… a lot of those 'robe orders' that I got for your mum… well, they were targets, of course._

_Needless to say, who better to have on a team of wizards that want to wipe out an entire race than a wizard who knows how to do it with their own technology, right? I'm probably the next best thing to Arthur Weasley when it comes to being knowledgeable about muggle weaponry. And clearly, the Death Eaters want nothing to do with him… except maybe the Cruciatus, of course._

_So because of the serious danger at stake, your mother and I have gone in to hiding. I fear that I can no longer remain neutral in this war if I am given yet another opportunity to join the Death Eaters._

_You are to be distraught, confused, angry, or whatever you need to be but not until official press release or notification from any of your professors. Also, you shouldn't be worried… and you shouldn't be too trusting of __**anyone**__. Especially family members of known Death Eaters such as your mates Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Theodore Nott, and Draco Malfoy to name a few._

_This will be our last form of contact. You're to stay with your great aunt until stated otherwise. This may be our last contact with one another._

_Know that your mother and I love you very much and we are so proud to have you as a daughter."_

Astoria crumpled the parchment furiously and threw it in the fire before curling up in to a ball on the armchair in the common room where she sobbed silently in solitude… or so she thought.

Pansy Parkinson was standing at the bottom of the staircase, staring at her with a perplexed look on her face. When Astoria's teary gaze met with hers, Pansy's expression immediately softened and she walked over and kneeled in front of her.

"Has something happened, Astoria?"

Astoria shook her head violently, "No. Just… it's nothing."

Her father's words came to mind. She was not to show her emotions until instructed and she was not to trust anyone. She already failed at the first task. She had to come up with a believable lie if Pansy pressed.

"Are you sure? I was coming down for a bit of fresh air and I saw you reading that letter that your just burned in the fire. Was it from your family?"

Damn it, Pansy! Astoria thought. She was starting to panic.

"It wasn't anything, Pansy!" Astoria snapped, "Like you'd care anyways. It's not like we're best mates. You… are you pretending to be concerned so that I'll open up to you and you can have a laugh about it with Milli and Tracy, later?"

Pansy sighed and clenched her jaw trying her best not to respond angrily to Astoria who was clearly genuinely upset about something that she had just read. It wasn't that Pansy suddenly felt like she and the girl were on that level of friendship. Astoria was correct about them not technically being friends but Pansy was no stranger to upsetting letters from parents… so she felt empathetic for the girl since no one had ever felt that way for her when she cried over letters by herself.

"No. I did not intend to have a laugh about it. Believe it or not, you aren't the only witch with problems at home. I just know that being sad about it by yourself feels shitty… really shitty, actually. So I figured I'd at least offer my consolation, if you wanted. I'm sort of all you have at the moment."

Astoria shook her head, "Just… parents, you know? The burden of the well-to-do pureblood family," she began wearily. She tried to read Pansy's expression and by the way she was nodding her head in agreement, she knew that she had hit a believable and relatable lie. She felt awful to play with one of Pansy's apparent weaknesses like this but she was easy enough to convince.

"I just—why can't they look at me as more than a bride to hand off, you know? I'd like to be asked how school is going rather than, have you been watching your figure, or I hope you've been taking care of your skin and minding your manners. It's like I'm not even a person to them… and Daphne's so clearly the favorable daughter because she's older and more mature."

When Pansy actually hugged her, she began to sob even more freely letting all of her mixed emotions out. She was so sad and scared for her mother and father and here she was lying about it… and they were awful terribly false lies at that. She hated herself and she hated Pansy's parents for ever making their daughter feel like she didn't matter. And she was comforted to have someone, anyone with her so that she didn't have to feel sad all alone in the common room.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, Professor Dumbledore called Daphne and Astoria to his office to regretfully inform them that their parents had died in a most tragic apparition accident on the way to one of their mother's business trips to launch her new line of robes for winter. It was their instruction that they had been waiting for. She was finally able to truly let her emotions show and this time she was able to show them with her sister… whom she had wanted to be with all along, holding her tight and brushing through her hair, consoling her in only the way that an older sibling knew how while trying to hold it all in herself.<p>

It was pretty bad timing for Blaise but he at least asked her to go to the Christmas Party with him later that night. He said that it might help for her to give it about a month to "think it over and have a bit of a nice time when she was ready to if she was ready to, of course."

She accepted and she desperately wanted to tell her mother so that they could write back and forth about how charming he was and what sort of dress she was going to wear and if she'd kissed him yet and how his marks in his classes were but she had to remain silent for the safety of all three of the people in her life that were the most precious to her.

Additionally, she was curious and slightly impressed with how they had managed to fake an apparating accident. If they lived to tell the tale, she looked forward to her father's animated description of the entire ploy.

She had to admit. Her parents were pretty extraordinary and this entire time she thought that they were just your typical stay-at-home socialites.

She had always been proud of her parents but she was exceptionally inspired by them this time around and wondered if it was too late in to the term to join the Muggle Artifacts Appreciation club.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: As you can see, I've changed the title of this story. Six chapters. I'd say this isn't a mere one shot about Draco not having nightmares, anymore. Draco will be back soon. Scout's honor. In fact he may be back in the next 2 chapters, at least.**

Christmas in the castle! The most magical time of the year in Astoria's opinion. So magical that she'd snog The Great Harry Potter under the mistletoe if she absolutely had to. Of course, that would never happen if she could help it. Plus, everyone knew Ginny Weasley had been in love with him for years and something about the feisty ginger terrified Astoria.

It was getting truly getting harder to keep face around her friends. She was technically supposed to be mourning, still. Why did her family have to fabricate some death story? She was just so happy that Christmas was only a few days away. It had been hers and her mother's favorite holiday while Daphne and her father preferred Halloween.

On the subject of her parents, they had actually sort of contacted her and Daphne again. Theodore Nott happened to notice an unfamiliar owl hanging about the owlery one evening and checked it for mail thinking that it may be a lost stray. As it turned out, there were two letters in black envelopes with their mother's designer label attached. They were identical in their message.

_Your mother would have wanted both of you to have these items named after the two of you from her unreleased collection. Expect another parcel from a heftier bird in two days. On behalf of the 9Muses family, we send our condolences and love this holiday season. Thank you for being such an inspiration to your mother who has touched our lives forever._

_Journey Ashford_

_"2__nd__ in command"_

_Oh, one more thing girls. There are letters dated before the accident within those parcels... they are not significant. I trust that you know what to do with this after you've read it._

Astoria loved Journey. He was an eccentric young man that had an exquisite eye for gem-detailing and the best taste in music according to Astoria. He was practically a family member from all the times that he had come to stay at the manor.

Two days later, just as he had told them, a larger bird delivered two parcels to them at breakfast. They were neatly wrapped in silver boxes and amethyst colored velvet ribbon. 9Muses trademark packaging.

"We open them on Christmas morning, understood?" Daphne told her.

"Buuuuut," Astoria whined jerking her head suggestively in Blaise's direction.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "what makes you so sure that it's a dress?"

"A daughter knows, Daphne. A daughter **knows**."

"Fine," she huffed. "Since the party's tonight, I'll allow it."

"Don't act like you don't want to know what 'Daphne' looks like."

Daphne grinned and nodded her head excitedly, "You're right."

* * *

><p>Astoria could hardly sit still in her classes.<p>

"You're so excited over a package from your dead mother. I would have expected you to be a bit more somber," Charlotte noted during potions.

Astoria blinked at her pretty brunette friend in confusion and smiled warmly, "It's one of the last things that my mother created before she passed. Of course I'm sad but I'm more honored than anything. It's her final gift of love and I plan to cherish it forever no matter what!"

"You're so cute," Charlotte doted giving Astoria a pinch on the cheek.

Even harder than waiting patiently during classes, it was all she could do to further contain herself during dinner. She practically inhaled her food and paid such close attention to the time that she didn't even notice Blaise watching her in amusement from a few seats down. When dinner was over, she grabbed Charlotte by the arm and dragged her to the common room with Daphne following not too far behind them.

"You first!" Astoria exclaimed, "Age before beauty."

"You little tosser! I **will** go first, though," she agreed stepping in front of Astoria with a pleased 'ahem'.

Daphne delicately untied the velvet ribbon and lifted the lid of her box. Inside was one of the signature black envelopes that her mother used that probably contained her starry night stationery parchment that she wrote on with the silver inked quill the girls adored.

"Read it!" Charlotte urged. Daphne clutched the letter tight to her chest and smiled warmly, "I'd rather not. It's dated before the accident so I don't want to get all teary. I'd rather read it in private."

She placed the letter in her bag and peeled back the black tissue paper hiding the garment inside. Astoria already knew that whatever Daphne had in that box would be a more mature version of what she would have. Her mother always did that with her 'sister' pieces. Both pieces would suit women primarily of the same demographic, though. Not that the girls complained. They always looked phenomenal as a set and could carry their own weight without the opposing garment just as effortlessly.

Daphne gasped before lifting up the little black cocktail dress. It was definitely a Journey collaborated masterpiece. The dress appeared to be a form-fitting long sleeved mini-dress made primarily of a black sheer fabric, and to retain modesty, hundreds upon hundreds of black diamonds and silver beads had been beaded to the dress to create the illusion that the wearer was embraced in the midnight sky… or smoldering in coal, one. She knew that with Daphne's soft brunette hair and warm skin-tone, she would look stunning in the dress when she tried it on.

"Your turn, Tori. I'll bet my life that it's something white," Daphne nodded to her sister to give her the go ahead.

Astoria opted to read her letter in privacy as well before removing the black tissue unveiling her unique version of the dress.

"Merlin! It's absolutely lovely," she sighed.

Inside the box lay an almost identical dress made in white like Daphne predicted with white diamonds and gold beads creating a softer, more innocent look. Astoria's dress was a bit more age appropriate for her as well. It was a gift from her mother, after all. Her dress fit her upper torso much like her sister's except that it flared out in an A-line style rather than hug every single one of her curves like **its** more 'mature' sister, something the girl and garment had in common.

"Well, we know what will be on Blaise's mind," Millicent scoffed holding the white dress to her face, "You know, I can sort of see through this material juuust enough to paint a clear picture if I thought about it _long_ _and h_—" Pansy cut her off with a sharp elbow to her rib.

"Don't be vile, Milli."

The girls jested with Astoria about how the dress may not be appropriate due to her age and how bold it was with it's sheer fabric andshort length, even with the somewhat innocent style of skirt. Although it was all in good nature, Astoria couldn't help but feel flustered. She recalled Daphne wearing dress robes with an almost entirely exposed back to the Yule Ball during Astoria's second year and did not hesitate to bring it up in her own defense.

"Yeah but, I'm older than you are."

"Only by two years and you were the same age as me when you wore **that **dress that almost exposed your arse to all of Hogwarts and two other schools."

"Yes. 2 years of proper development… that happened to have developed two years ago," Daphne teased with a wink. She then stuck her tongue out at her younger sister with a laugh. Astoria groaned and made a leap for Daphne.

"How about I just try it on? I do have a nude colored leotard that I can wear under it."

Daphne scrunched her nose then smiled lovingly at her, "Together?"

"Of course."

The two girls grabbed their belongings not wanting to take the risk of leaving the letters unattended and changed in to the dresses helping one another zip the backs and make final adjustments before stepping out to show them off.

Catcalls and applause followed from the excited Slytherin girls. Astoria especially loved how light and soft the fabric was, like a cloud as if the dress was truly made of materials gathered straight from the heavens. She glanced over at Daphne and just as she imagined, the 16 year old looked like a total woman in it. Winning the bet wouldn't even be a question in it… or maybe her elder sister just had an allure that she had not yet required, herself.

"Alright! Enough talking. Time to get the rest of you finished," Tracy interrupted, "The party starts in an hour."

Tracy Davis was exceptionally gifted in charms so she was often the witch that many of her classmates went to when they wanted to know the best way to charm their hair and apply their makeup. She nonchalantly gave Astoria's hair a few waves of her wand to have it create a stylish milkmaid style up-do. She also charmed her hair so that the brown undertones were prominent creating a darker blonde upon Astoria's request. "Oh and, Milli will grab you a pair of nude colored heels of mine," she asked seeing that Millicent was closest to her wardrobe.

"Are we done, then?" she asked the girls.

Tracy nodded, "Yeah, actually. Sorry I rushed you. I guess I thought I was going to need to do more. Anyways, have fun. I'm sure that I'll hear about it tomorrow."

"But not too much fun," Daphne reminded her.

Astoria rolled her eyes with a grin. Pansy approached her and pulled her aside from the group asking her if she remembered the deal. They had came to a mutual agreement that just because they shared what may have been considered a 'bonding' moment in the common room before her parents' 'death,' they still had business matters to uphold. It just was not in either of the girls' nature or upbringing to back down from a challenge. However, when Pansy pulled out a small vile of what Astoria immediately recognized as 'liquid luck' and offered it to her, she was genuinely confused. Reading her confusion, Pansy clicked her tongue in annoyance (which had been becoming a signature gesture for her in concern with Astoria) before explaining it to her.

"Liquid Luck gets rid of your inhibitions, Astoria. I'm neither offering you a favor nor a hindrance. I want it to be an honest win and the potion will soften the blow when Blaise surely lets you down because you'll simply be aware that it wasn't meant to be and accept it for what it is."

"No," Astoria responded flatly, "I'll take my chances as well as the consequences without your _help_. Plus, I have until the 5th," she retaliated with a smile.

Pansy actually laughed at her. She was awful, Astoria thought with a shudder.

"Stubborn until the last minute, I see. Anyways," she took Astoria's hand and placed the potion in it, "You're not half bad Greengrass. Consider this a Christmas gift. You may not use it tonight, but you might want to soon. And although I normally receive great pleasure from watching others fail, I'd probably feel really bad for you when you lose if you like him as much as I think you do."

Astoria cleared her throat uncomfortably then left to go meet her date in the common room without another word.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the wait. Lots of life stuff going on right now. New job. Moving to a new apartment. Writer's block. blahhh. anyways. Here you go. It's a bit short but I plan to have 8 rolling out in the next day or so and I plan for it to be longer.**

* * *

><p>"You look lovely," Blaise told her when she met him. She thanked him curtly with Pansy's words still fresh on her mind and they walked to Slughorn's office together discussing the guests that they were most excited to meet.<p>

The decorations in the professor's office were a bit over the top for Astoria's tastes but she still appreciated the softness that the red light of the chandelier cast on the room and the witches and wizards within it. Momentarily after their entrance, Slughorn came over to greet the two of them and compliment Mrs. Greengrass' work on Astoria's dress telling her that he would have loved to invite the talented designer but had thought nothing of it because he typically invited former members of his club and Astoria's mother had not been. He then gave Astoria yet a second condolence and patted Blaise on the back asking Astoria if it was alright for him to borrow her date. He wanted to introduce Blaise to The Weird Sisters' front man, Myron Wagtail. At this point, Astoria made her way over to the refreshments and struck up a conversation with a man named Sanguini whom she quickly determined was not a man at all but a vampire rather and a very interesting one at that. He was nearly 500 years old and had the stories to accompany his age. Astoria found him rather delightful while Blaise had not and quickly returned to her side to supervise lest his date turn up 'missing,' conveniently.

"You'd think that you were a Christmas ham the way he was eying you," Blaise jested in her ear very hushed as he slid his hand around her waist and guided her away.

"Oh please," Astoria swatted the thought away glaring lightly up at him with a smirk.

"Can't say that I can truly blame him, human or vampire, you've been getting looks already Miss Greengrass," he stated nonchalantly with an amused smile.

"Well then, you should be delighted to have such a spectacle as your guest."

"I never said otherwise."

The statement brought a small pleased smile to Astoria's face before she took a sip of her mead.

"Go easy on that," Blaise noted protectively, "I don't want to have to carry you out of here."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes a bit before grinning and giving him a sweet, "as you wish."

It wasn't too long after, that the party was disrupted by Mr. Filch dragging Draco in to the party notifying Professor Slughorn that he had been trying to sneak in. Slughorn seemed not to be bothered by it at all and extended a welcome to Draco which made Astoria rather happy that she'd have someone other than Blaise to socialize with. She wasn't very fond of being Blaise's "accessory" for the evening seeing that every time she had a chance to go off and mingle on her own, it was short-lived since he was soon by her side to whisk her away to quietly listen in on Blaise's conversation with someone else. She had a comfortable feeling that Draco was the sort of party guest that didn't constantly need his date around him… not that people would get the impression that he was her date because he wasn't. The student attendees knew that and many of the adults had already recognized her as Blaise's arm-candy for the evening. Before casually spending time with Draco whom she had not seen in days (and noticed was thinner and paler) even became a possibility, Professor Snape escorted him out of the office with a scowl. She sighed in disappointment and turned her attention back to Blaise who looked concerned for his friend before shaking his head and muttering, "git" under his breath making her grin and nudge him with her elbow.

"Well, he is. He can never just let anything go. Dramatic sod… and he could do well to quit missing meals. Honestly. I'm his mate. Not his mother. I shouldn't be concerning myself with him as much as I do."

"You're a good friend," Astoria stated warmly, "that's what you do. You can't help it."

He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead lightly, "listen to you Miss voice of wisdom."

He then gave her hand a light squeeze and led her off to a secluded area of the party where he confessed that there had been something that he had been meaning to give her all evening before sliding his hand to the back of her neck and kissing her. It may have been the mead but she wasn't sure of it because her body felt warm at his touch and overly sensitive like she was a melting piece of chocolate dissolving right in to his embrace. She only remembered that they were actually in company when the sound of a fresh bottle of mead being uncorked somewhere startled her.

When Blaise let her go, she only knew one thing and that was that she was bored with the party and her mother's gorgeous dress was suddenly a burden that she needed to be freed from immediately. She grabbed another glass of mead and drank it quickly in comparison to her previous glass feeling the effects of the liquid faintly moments afterward. The room felt warmer and softer and the sounds all began to meld in to one muffled roar in the background. She liked the feeling and contemplated having another glass. She was just about to decide against it when Melinda Bobbin, a peer of Astoria's whom she had only spoken to in classes, handed her another glass and draped her arm over her shoulder guiding her away from her date whose touch still lingered. Astoria was only slightly annoyed but seized the opportunity to socialize with a girl her age that she had only ever been acquaintances with.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Melinda asked her.

Astoria nodded and asked her the same question.

"Very much so. I've had a few of these so I'm doing fairly well."

Astoria laughed at her statement and took a large sip from her own glass before complimenting Melinda's shoes and then her face. This received a giggle from Melinda and a pat on the back, "You're a bit of a light weight, aren't you Greengrass?"

"A what?"

"A light weight. You haven't drank very much before, have you?"

Astoria shook her head, "just table wine at dinner, really. And I drink that much slower."

Melinda laughed and clinked her glass with hers, "Well, we'll have to break you of that. I'm glad you came, tonight. I was so relieved to see another Slytherin girl to be honest."

Astoria nodded in agreement and asked her who she had brought with her. Melinda sighed and brought a delicate perfectly manicured hand to her forehead, "Juuust me. I mentioned it to Graham Montague but he seemed disinterested in the whole thing. No matter, I can enjoy myself without a date."

Astoria liked her. She was very charming and made Astoria comfortable to be around her without even trying. They drank mead and talked freely for what seemed like hours and then Blaise came over to interrupt them, "I thought I told you to go easy on the mead," he reminded her with a laugh realizing that it was too late to scold her.

"Oh I did go easy on it, Blaaaise. I could have consumed it and itss entire mead family without a second thought but I am a benevol-volent drinker so I took mercy on them juss like you said," Astoria retorted airily with a light slur. She flashed him her most charming smile and she could have swore that his cheeks flushed which was a proud accomplishment for her. He then helped her up and the contents of her handbag fell to the floor with little clinked against the stone.

"Whoops!" Astoria mumbled biting her lower lip as she looked up at Blaise apologetically.

"You're a mess," he stated softly clutching her a bit tighter to stabilize her.

"I've got it," Melinda offered as she leaned down to pick up Astoria's belongings. She found the bottle of Felix Felicis and looked puzzled before looking on the bottom of the bottle for her family's apothecary symbol. She then gasped, "So that's why she bought this. For you."

"Oh yeah? Pansy bought it from you?" Astoria asked, "She said that she wanted me to have it cause I'd need it or some bollocks."

"I have no idea why," Melinda stated flatly, "You don't peg me as a luck user. I thought Pansy was getting it for herself to be honest. I usually ask my parents for a few cases at the beginning of the term for students looking for a bit of fun on rough days but you can't even hold your liquor for Merlin's sake."

Astoria smiled weakly, "You can have it back. Re-sell it. That'll show Pansy. Stupid pug-faced… butt."

Melinda and Blaise both smiled at each other in confused amusement then Melinda shrugged, "Nah. You keep it. A token of a new friend made and you never know when you could use a little luck."

"Thanks, Melinda. I'll see you around, yeah?"

Melinda nodded and excused herself from the two of them. Blaise then held Astoria's shoulders firmly and brushed her hair out her face, "Alright champ. Let's see if we can manage to get you past the professors and prefects without losing house points for your debauchery."

Astoria scoffed and blew her bangs up out of her face from where they had immediately fallen back in to place after Blaise had brushed them away, "I've got this."

She then straightened herself up and walked slowly in front of him in a surprisingly graceful fashion until she wobbled on her heel and Blaise had to catch her with a laugh, "just, hold on to me, okay?"

They made their way back to the common room and Blaise handed her a glass of water after she plopped down on the couch in front of the fire. He sat next to her and placed his arm around her then sighed as if something was bothering him.

"What's the matter? Are you upset with me?" Astoria asked him wide-eyed. Blaise's expression softened even more and he shook his head, "No. No, not at all. It's something else. Something I've been trying to get past all evening."

"What?"

"Nothing. We can talk about it another time. When you're not… you know."

"What is it? You can tell me. I won't be upset with you!"

"I'd rather not, Astoria. I think I'm just going to wait until you're feeling a bit more normal then go to bed."

"Is it something bad?"

"I think it will be."

"Then why not just tell me, now?" she asked a bit defensively.

"Because you're drunk. That's why."

"So. Why bring it up, then?"

"I didn't."

"You sighed."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you can control sighs, Blaise. I do it all the time."

"Fine. You want me to tell you what's been bothering me all night all as a possible thanks to you not drinking that potion?"

"_Yes_," Astoria answered apprehensively wondering what the potion had to do with anything.

"I know about the bet, Astoria."

With those words, Astoria suddenly realized why Pansy gave her the potion. Because she knew Astoria wouldn't use it. She knew it was twisted and she only wanted to mess with Astoria's head. At the same time, why would Pansy give her the potion with the chance that she might use it after all and end up having the perfect night? She was so angry and her mind was so fogged that she couldn't think straight. All she knew was that she wanted nothing more than to either crawl in a hole and die or gouge Pansy Parkinson's eyeballs out with her own fingernails.

She wasn't sure which one sounded more appealing but she was feeling herself leaning more towards the latter as she and Blaise stared intently at one another.


End file.
